guns in books

I recently read a Clive Cussler book about some crazy Cossack guy. In the book Clive describes a CAR as an M-16 style rifle that is able to shoot a bullet without a cartridge to save space and weight. He also refers to another hand gun as being .9 mm. Twice. I thought it was 9 mm not .9
I know this is no schocking revelation that authors get stuff wrong but it still bugs me. This guy is able to pay for a weapons person to edit. However if I am just in the dark about a caseless m-16 and .9 I retire as an idiot.

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JN01

January 27, 2010, 06:44 PM

I'm a fan of Stephen King, but he's not much better on firearms.

In his latest, Under the Dome, one of the characters uses a Beretta Taurus 92.

He has also written about flipping off the safety on revolvers.

He's used technical consultants for various other aspects of stories, but on guns, he remains clueless. Drives me nuts.

mljdeckard

January 27, 2010, 06:47 PM

You want good gun detail in books? Stephen Hunter.

zoom6zoom

January 27, 2010, 06:48 PM

He has also written about flipping off the safety on revolvers.
Must have been a Hong Kong Police contract Webley. There have been a few wheelguns with safeties, but yeah, this is a very common flub among writers.

Dulvarian

January 27, 2010, 06:54 PM

On a side note, the #1 and #2 also joined 2 years apart to the date.

I feel a little smug for about two seconds, then I get sad that someone make so little of an attempt at something that is not very difficult. It is the same exact reaction I have when the media makes their ridiculous claims on firearms.

Take that 'massive weapon cache' thread floating around. It would seem a lot more sinister to me if the media story was cold and factual and drew the attention toward all of the minor points... like the fact that he had maps of military installation(s) and some circumstantial evidence that pointed to radical 'jihadi-ness'. As it stands, the sensationalism just draws the eye away from the real topic. Oh, and if you have to tell me that it was 'zomg an arsenal' just tell me how many it was. I can decide for myself if it is a lot.

(My personal definition of a 'lot' happens to be more than a 'few'.)

garyhan

January 27, 2010, 06:59 PM

I can't understand why authors make such errors either. As you say, someone knowlegeable could edit the silly mistakes: or the author could simply stick to what he understands. I would much rather read "He pointed his gun at me" than "He pointed the 8m/m Luger revolver at me and snicked off the two safeties". If you don't know what you're talking about, keep it general.

gary

The Lone Haranguer

January 27, 2010, 07:04 PM

In the book Clive describes a CAR as an M-16 style rifle that is able to shoot a bullet without a cartridge to save space and weight.
Part of Cussler's writing style is to invent his own technology with colorful names. There is also no such thing as a South African "Felo" gun that fires sharpened metal discs, a "Hocker-Rodine" automatic pistol, a "Casper" hypersonic reconaissance aircraft, or a "Satan" anti-ship missile, just to name a few examples that have appeared in his work. He also likes to insert himself into a story. :D

He also refers to another hand gun as being .9 mm. Twice. I thought it was 9 mm not .9

That could be an editing or printing error.

Rembrandt

January 27, 2010, 07:05 PM

Let's not forget Ian Fleming giving 007 James Bond a Beretta .25 caliber to fend off villains of the free world.....later he changed Bonds gun to a PPK.

Then there was the "Man with the Golden Gun".....Fleming's use of custom made 23 carat golden bullets with nickel trace elements were manufactured for the gun by Eastern expert Portugese gunsmith Lazar. It fired single shot 23 carat 4.2 mm golden bullets with nickel trace elements.

Archie

January 27, 2010, 07:09 PM

My favorite gun mentioned in a fiction story appeared in James Thurber's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In one day dream, Mitty admits his ability to score hits at 300 yards with his off hand - firing his .50-80 Webley-Vickers. I know next to nothing about Thurber, but that has to be a send up.

Second favorite: (from The Hitchhiker's Guide tothe Galaxy, by the late Douglas Adams)The Kill-O-Zap™ gun is a long, silver mean-looking device, the designers of which decided to make it totally clear that it had a right end, and a wrong end, and if that meant sticking blacked and evil-looking devices and prongs all over the wrong end, so be it.

The Kill-O-Zap™ is NOT a gun for casually sticking in the umbrella stand or for hanging on the wall, it is a gun for making people miserable with, revoking (spelt KILLING ) them if necessary.Okay, they're not real and they're not mistakes. I find inventive fiction much more acceptable than downright error.

zstephens13

January 27, 2010, 07:12 PM

In Stephen King's defense, beretta did sell the rights or factory or whatever to Taurus down in brazil. This is from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge:

"A large contract for the Beretta 92 was with the Brazilian army, for which Beretta set up a factory in Brazil. This factory was later sold to the Brazilian gunmaker Taurus. Taurus makes these pistols (called the PT92) without the need for a license from Beretta since their design is based on the original Beretta 92, whose patents have since expired."

He could have meant a Brazilian made Beretta 92. I wouldn't know, I'm only on page 173. :)

forindooruseonly

January 27, 2010, 08:34 PM

I loathe Clive Cussler's writing style. His lack of aviation knowledge is just about as bad as his lack of firearm knowledge. That being said, noone makes me by his books, so it's not like I really care either. I just avoid books like that.

danprkr

January 27, 2010, 09:59 PM

I loathe Clive Cussler's writing style. His lack of aviation knowledge is just about as bad as his lack of firearm knowledge. That being said, noone makes me by his books, so it's not like I really care either. I just avoid books like that.

Those along with some of his political views about the environment caused me to quit reading him also.

rswartsell

January 27, 2010, 10:15 PM

On the other hand, writers like Elmore Leonard usually get it right. For example "The Hot Kid" a pulp story about a '20's and '30's U.S. Marshall with lots of period correct references like his hero's preference for a Colt .38 in a .45 frame (.38 Super?). Getting his Dad a Krag-Jorgensen because he fought in the Spanish American war only to have his Dad correct him "I was a Huntington's Marine, I carried a Lee rifle."

Kudos to writing about what you know.

Zoidberg523

January 27, 2010, 11:14 PM

Somewhat off topic, but while we are talking about firearm faux pas, the most irritating for me is the portrayal of guns in cartoons. Yes, I know, they are cartoons, and by their very nature should not be realistic, but there is just no excuse for drawing a revolver that ejects spent cartridge casings after each shot like an autoloader (as happened on Family Guy)... :scrutiny:

In fact, while I enjoy that show, they constantly portray guns and gun owners in a bad light (especially when it comes to things like gun play, and especially concerning the character "Joe", [who plays a cop, for those of you unfamiliar with the show]).

Tamren

January 28, 2010, 12:03 AM

I haven't read a Clive Cussler book since the one where some US Special forces in Antarctica had a "Nasty looking combination Assault Rifle, missile launcher, grenade launcher."

If you want a fun book where the author got firearms right, check out "Monster Hunter International" by Larry Correia. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's a member of THR. And if he happens to see this post, I'd like to know if there's an MHI 2 in the works yet.....

David Weber also does a pretty good job of portraying firearms realistically, that is when he's writing about primitive realistic weapons that still use that ancient stuff smokeless powder :P. I think the Honor Harrington series is one of the few books where the main character cleans her replica antique (implied 1911) .45 after every use.

However, the most knowledgeable gun and military author on my book shelf is David Drake. He even wrote his Hammer's Slammer's and some other short stories as part of mentally recovering from being deployed in Vietnam. Some of the most horrific and possibly most realistic battle scenes out of any books I've read.

HunterBear71

January 28, 2010, 01:55 AM

Cormac McCarthy gets it right in No Country For Old Men. Stephen King is great but he really is gun illiterate.

Dr.Rob

January 28, 2010, 02:09 AM

I give some writers a pass... but when a TECHNO THRILLER writer (Clancy) or SPY writer (Ludlum) or CRIME writer (Cross) gets something wrong it irks me.

On the other hand, writers like Elmore Leonard usually get it right. For example "The Hot Kid" a pulp story about a '20's and '30's U.S. Marshall with lots of period correct references like his hero's preference for a Colt .38 in a .45 frame (.38 Super?).

That would be a Colt New Service (.45 Colt frame) in .38 Special (hi-speed) or if its a Smith, a 38/44. I just read The Hot Kid not too long ago, and remember thinking Leonard was pretty good with his guns. Those .38 hi-speed loads were the precourser to the 357 magnum and were VERY hot in their day, and very popular with law enforcement.

The Lone Haranguer

January 28, 2010, 02:37 AM

I give some writers a pass... but when a TECHNO THRILLER writer (Clancy) or SPY writer (Ludlum) or CRIME writer (Cross) gets something wrong it irks me.

Agreed, as well as in cases where an entire plot point revolves around an item of gun lore. In Clancy's Executive Orders the S&W 1076 fires stainless steel-cased ammunition. :scrutiny: This still does not detract materially from the rest of the novel, which is my favorite of his.

ClayInTX

January 28, 2010, 04:54 AM

When some writers get “big” they use staff to write books in their style in order to get another one out while the market is hot for them while they make personal appearances and autograph sessions instead of pounding keys.

This is very prevalent in the “generic” markets, such as romances, westerns, and action/adventure. Usually the first book by a big name writer (gonna become big name at that point) is fairly accurate but when these get written by staff the “big name” doesn’t always proof the work completely. This is not to say all the gonna-bees get it right the first time.

A key phrase, or saying, in the world of fiction writing is “temporary suspension of disbelief” on the part of the reader. It’s when we encounter obvious errors that this suspension become unsuspended and ruins the rest of the book.

Guns are a real problem for some writers. In science fiction or Hollywood anything goes.

Scott30

January 28, 2010, 07:36 AM

Saw a TV show last night where the commentator said the store owner grabbed his "8mm Glock" to fend off the robbers. Sometimes I think the mistakes are on purpose.

GunsAmerica Fan

January 28, 2010, 08:49 AM

OMG Archie I can't believe you mentioned Walter Mitty. I had to write an essay on that for my girlfriend for college and that was exactly what I was thinking when I read the first post on this thread. Pocketa pocketa lmao. We had to take out all the gun stuff from the essay because the teacher would know I wrote it. :)

Arkansas Paul

January 28, 2010, 10:32 AM

I've read westerns where the characters thumb shells into a .36 caliber Navy Colt too.
I've also read about them levering a new round into a .50 Sharps.
Drives me crazy. If you're going to write about something, know what you're talking about. It wouldn't take ten minutes on the internet to find these things out.

Mikhail Weiss

January 28, 2010, 11:29 AM

I can't understand why authors make such errors either.

Because their editors don't know any better, either.

Sometimes I think the mistakes are on purpose.

Sometimes they are, either to demonstrate the ignorance of the character(s) involved, or because the work isn't serious to begin with (ergo the earlier-mentioned Family Guy episode).

okespe04

January 28, 2010, 11:39 AM

Cormac McCarthy gets it right in all his books.

NMGonzo

January 28, 2010, 11:58 AM

"I put my .44 magnum pistol with a silencer inside my waistband ... "

He lost me right there.

summerhelp

January 28, 2010, 12:52 PM

Robert Parker in his western books talked about swing out cylinders in Colt SAA if I remember rightly.

Weren't some of those reworked to take cartridges after the war of yankee aggression?

danprkr

January 28, 2010, 03:02 PM

summerhelp

GREAT! :fire: Now I'll have to go reread them, and see if you're correct. I don't recall that, and think it would catch my eye but it's been a while since I read them.

FYI - he died like 3 days ago of a heart attack at his desk :( To bad, he was one of my favorites.

Jim K

January 28, 2010, 03:10 PM

Stephen Hunter's book on snipers was ripped apart in a Washington Post review, on technical gun terms, and the reviewer was right. I have not read the book, but reports say his villain is a sniper called "Carl Hitchcock", which really defames the real VN sniper Carlos Hathcock. That (if true) seems to me to show disrespect for a hero, as well as a lack of imagination in finding names for his characters.

Jim

Arkansas Paul

January 28, 2010, 03:48 PM

Yes some .36 Navy Colts were bored through to take cartridges, but they weren't in .36 caliber. They were .38s. Some of them rimfire and some of them centerfire. I have never heard of a .36 caliber cartridge though, except combustible cartridges.

I like calling it the war of yankee aggression. I also like the second war of Independance.

Top_Gunn

January 28, 2010, 05:34 PM

British writers tend to be awful, perhaps because they get so little first-hand experience with guns. One of Ian Rankin's novels involves a "9mm revolver" "called the Colt 45" which is said to be very popular in America.

On the other hand, the Brits know where to put apostrophes. I read a novel by an American in which every single possessive plural had the apostrophe in the wrong place. A decent copy editor with a computer could have found and fixed all of them in ten minutes. It's not just gun-related blunders that could easily be avoided, but aren't.

Arkansas Paul

January 28, 2010, 05:52 PM

If you're a western fan, JT Edson writes very entertaining books and goes into very vivid details about the guns. He's also very accurate. I think I read somewhere that he's a collector, so he would know.

Shadow Man

January 28, 2010, 05:56 PM

Most writers make a few mistakes concerning nearly everything in their works. It is to be understood; in order to write a novel featuring more than one device in detail, the author is attempting to be a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. That said, Vince Flynn rarely has serious firearm mistakes in his works. I believe he even mentioned LaRue Stealth uppers in one of his books.

Ronsch

January 28, 2010, 06:17 PM

I would take that review with a shaker of salt...

Stephen Hunter does not demonize Carlos Hathcock in any sense of the imagination. The characters that generally constitute the "bad guys" demonize the sniper(s.)

Hunter changes the name to specifically NOT be impying anything negative.

Just FYI...Read his books.

SundownRider

January 28, 2010, 06:59 PM

Well, my book White Flag of the Dead has quite a few guns in it, and I never put a gun in print without shooting it myself, first.

It was one of the things that used to bug me when reading. A good story is just made unbelievable when mistakes are made. In this day of internet research, there is no excuse for poor writing about guns.

danprkr

January 28, 2010, 08:40 PM

In this day of internet research, there is no excuse for poor writing about guns.

Amended
In this day of internet research, there is no excuse for poor writing about anything.

Sorry, nothing personal, I just can't get over on people who don't know that google is your friend!

BG&K

January 28, 2010, 09:27 PM

I've been known to make the .9mm mistake on accident a time or two, just like you misspelled the word shocking. :scrutiny:

:) :) :)

shenandoah

January 28, 2010, 09:39 PM

The newsies are a notoriously ignorant lot, they make things up to accomodate their own prejudicial agendas. 'massive weapons cache' etc. They know nothing about guns, little about life and since Hemingway died, nothing about courage. They live, like they write, for the most part vicariously, interviewing survivors, and calling their buzzard like indifference 'impartiality'.

Shadow Man

January 28, 2010, 11:22 PM

The newsies are a notoriously ignorant lot, they make things up to accomodate their own prejudicial agendas. 'massive weapons cache' etc. They know nothing about guns, little about life and since Hemingway died, nothing about courage. They live, like they write, for the most part vicariously, interviewing survivors, and calling their buzzard like indifference 'impartiality'.

So all authors are "newsies"? I'm not trying to stick up for some of the really bad authors out there, but that was a rather sweeping generalization. I've often considered writing fiction, but after reading your post, I've come to the realization that I have never lived, know absolutely squat about firearms, and know absolutely nothing about courage... To claim that they are living vicariously through their characters is really a loaded statement. It would be nearly impossible for an author to convey human emotions accurately without drawing from the only medium they have; themselves. And since many of us writing today have not lived through World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, etc, how else are we to gather first-hand accounts, often ripe with pure emotion than from interviewing survivors? This generation's war is far different than former generation's wars, necessitating research. You make writing seem dirty...

Boberama

January 29, 2010, 06:02 AM

My god, I read a book someone lent to me, I have it right here. Probably one of the most blatant mistakes ever. The author's from England.:rolleyes:
The firearm in the book is described as illegal.

From Ian Rankin's The Black Book, The Number One Bestseller:
"You've got it?"
Deek patted his coat pocket. He was jittery, with good cause. It wasn't every day you sold an illegal firearm to a policeman.
"Let's see it then."
"What? Out here?"
Rebus looked around. "There's nobody here."
Deek bit his lip, then resigned himself to lifting the handgun out of his pocket and placing it in John Rebus's palm.
The thing was a lifeless weight, but comfortable to hold. Rebus placed it in his own capacious pocket. "Ammo?".......
.......He unlocked the car and slipped the gun and ammo underneath the driver's seat. He noticed he was trembling and a little dizzy as he stood back up.......
........"So what have I got?" asked Rebus. "It was a bit dark out there to see."
"Well, they're all copies. Don't worry, I file off the identifiers myself.Yours is a Colt 45. It'll take ten rounds."
"Eight millimetre?"
Deek nodded. "There's twenty in the box. It's not the most lethal weapon around. I can get replica Uzis too."

My theory is that the author looked an airsoft gun at or searched Colt 45 and came up with an airsoft version. I searched 8mm Colt 45 and it came up with something called a Marushin Operator 8mm Airsoft pistol.

LAME! THE CALIBER IS RIGHT IN THE DAMN NAME! COLT 45!

jackstinson

January 29, 2010, 08:28 AM

Let's not forget Ian Fleming giving 007 James Bond a Beretta .25 caliber to fend off villains of the free world.
Actually, in the first book "Casino Royale", Ian Flemming gave 007 three guns: a Beretta 418 in his shoulder rig, a "sawn-barrel" .38 Special revolver he kept under his pillow, and a .45 in the Bentley's glovebox. Bear in mind that 007 was primarily an assassin...not a gunfighter. It wasn't until the sixth book (Dr. No) that Bond was issued two different guns: a .32acp PPK and a .38 S&W Airweight. And throughout all of the books, 007 uses several other guns as well. Commander Fleming was not totally ignorant about such things. He served several years in WWII as a planner in British Navel Intelligence.

I've been reading a book this week that bugs the heck out of me due to the way the author uses "revolver" and "automatic" interchangeably (no it's not The Maltese Falcon with it's Webley-Fosbery Self-Cocking Automatic Revolver). The author yaks about the hero or the hero's woman "drawing a revolver", then four sentences later talk about putting in a fresh magazine, or how the spent cartridges fly everywhere. It bugs me.

Omaney

January 29, 2010, 08:48 AM

I used to let stuff like this annoy me. I got over it. Now I just listen to my inner voice say, "There's an oops". Writers are writers. Gun gurus are gun gurus. Rare day when they're both. The worst oops IMO is when someone draws a GLOCK and ther's the "click", stupid mistake.

MinnMooney

January 29, 2010, 03:07 PM

Slightly off subject : TV show ("Parks & Recreation")

Last night's rerun really showed their anti-guns/hunting agenda in living colour.

The annual business' hunting trip was infiltrated by 3 of the women in the office. When one was given a hunting license she said, "Oh, Ick."

They started the hunt with a toast to the hunt and a beer. A no-no in most hunting camps. At one point in the middle of the hunt one guy stops back to the cabin for another beer just as a guy gets shot in the back of the head with a shotgun. No one wants to fess-up to the shot.

People are shooting at everything and anything. Three or four have never shot any weapon in their lives but are still given a shotgun with absolutely no training or advice. (Exception - one woman looks bown the barrel of her loaded shotgun and one of the guys tells her that "It's not a good idea.".

Unfortunately, this show is fairly popular so a lot of people see it and say, "See? THAT'S why I don't like guns or hunting!" Hunters and shooters already know that the show's content was ridiculas and extremely prejudiced but many got just one more dose of anti-ism.

The Lone Haranguer

January 29, 2010, 08:18 PM

I still chuckle over some of those action hero series of the 1970s. In Don Pendleton's The Executioner series, the titular hero picked two rifles for long range sniping, first a Marlin .444, then a .460 Weatherby Magnum. :scrutiny: Joseph Rosenberger's Death Merchant series once had a .357 Magnum shooting through a filled vat of wine over 13 feet in diameter and hitting and (very graphically) killing the opponent on the other side. I was only a teenager in the 1970s and even I knew better. :D Jerry Ahern's The Survivalist series was more believable in terms of gun lore.

(Side comment: I quit reading The Death Merchant when he and his team killed police officers who inadvertently interfered with their operations. :mad:)

JN01

January 30, 2010, 11:38 AM

I'll confess to enjoying the Survivalist series. Kind of cheesy and predictable, but a fun read. Sort of like literary junk food.

Arkansas Paul

January 30, 2010, 01:52 PM

Another good action series is William W. Johnstone's Ashes series. They too are predictable but entertaining none the less. He seems to be very knowledgable about the weapons they use, and they go into good detail about a lot of them.

ClayInTX

January 30, 2010, 03:57 PM

Arkansas Paul,

William Johnstone died several years ago and the publisher has continued issuing novels under his name but written by contract writers (ghosts). Sometimes these ghosts are given credit and sometimes not.

I know one of the writers; he is a Korean and Vietnam vet and is very gun savvy. He also researches extensively to add realism to his work. He writes for two or three dead writers.

There are a few well-known, but dead, authors whose works still keep coming out. These works are generally what writers call “generic” or “formula” works. Some are good and some are not so good.
* * *

Lance MacHenry stopped atop the hill and looked down upon the slumbering, sleepy, somnolent village. He pulled his automatic revolver from his holster and checked the clip. Yes, a full magazine of .45 ACP. This year of 1869 was going to be busy...
:D

MikePGS

January 30, 2010, 05:39 PM

I'm a big Harry Turtledove fan and he does a good job in general when it comes to guns. I particularly like that in his novel "Guns of the South" he gives the CSA AK-47's. This is a well thought out choice giving people who are almost entirely unfamiliar with "modern" style weapons a gun that is easy to maintain and that is also rugged under adverse conditions. The only slight I could have against him at all is in his Timeline-491 series. In that series the US Army has .45 caliber automatics in spite of the fact that the mormons don't want anything at all to do with the U.S.A. and are in fact waging a war against them. It's not really a big deal but it just irked me a bit.

Arkansas Paul

January 30, 2010, 05:46 PM

ClayInTX, I did not know that about Johnstone. That sucks. The Ashes series however, was started in 1983, and definately by him. I'm not sure if he finished the series or a ghost writer did. The ones currently being produced are just second or third printings. I did notice that there are a lot of new westerns cropping up under his name. Didn't know he died.

Correia

February 22, 2010, 10:57 AM

I've got one book out, (Monster Hunter International) one coming in September, (Monster Hunter Vendetta) and three more sold to Baen in two series. I'm also 95% done with taking the old Welcome Back, Mr. Nightcrawler thread from here on THR and selling it as a trilogy of thrillers. I'm a national bestseller and I used to own a machinegun store. Yes. It is good to be me. :p

If you've read Monster Hunter International, then you know I'm a gun geek that prides himself on getting stuff right. I've also got alpha readers from all sorts of different backgrounds, and when I screw things up in their areas of expertise, hopefully they catch it.

I'm also a research nerd, so I don't just get hung up on guns, but I try to get as much correct as possible, but frankly, unless you are an expert on that topic, it is darn near impossible to get every detail correct. You just cover too much ground and for most of them you aren't writing about the hardware.

I've got an alternative history/fantasy set in 1932 coming out from Baen in 2011, and I read probably thirty history books about 1900-1940. I got the equivelent to a bachelor's degree about the first half of the century getting this one book written and I'm still absolutely positive that I'll probably get something wrong.

Not the gun stuff though. Because this is a fantasy the guns exist because I said so. John Browning lived several more years. And he was a techno-mage. :)

In defense of the writers who do screw up. Writing books is actually, you know, kind of hard, so cut them some slack. :p

kayak-man

March 28, 2010, 12:45 AM

Some English classes really change the way you look at books. In one of Hemingway's books he gives a character a shotgun. Most people that I know would just assume that is because it was the most badicle choice. If you read it in context, he was actually (at least this is what I put in my paper) a man who wanted to look like a commando, but wasn't. There may be a reason for some of the gun mistakes in novels. My favorite that I can remember is also in Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" (yes, I know that I'm supposed to underline the title of the book, but I'm not sure how to do that here) when he refers to a handgun as a "big 9mm." Since they all had 9mms, and Robert Jordan had a .45, I wouldn't have chosen the word big, but thats just me.

Also, it is really hard to be an expert on everything, and I really respect the authors who manage to get all the details right. (I know this is off topic, but if anybody wants someone to proofread a story to see if the first aid scene is realistic, I'm not a doctor, but I'd be happy to take a look. Especially if it will help the Nighcrawler series get published faster, hint hint)

Have a good night everybody!

Sunray

March 28, 2010, 02:10 AM

"...loathe Clive Cussler's writing style..." Fiction has nothing to do with reality. Cussler doesn't claim to be writing anything but fiction either. Personally, I love his books. Find 'em hard to put down. They're not about reality. They're just stories.
The Mack Bolan books are full of stupid firearm nonsense, but they're a good read just the same. So is Clancy's fiction.
If you want reality, read non-fiction history. Just don't believe any history written by Steven Ambrose. He was a plagiarist hack who ignored real history.

Travis McGee

March 28, 2010, 08:46 AM

Clive Cussler writes comic books without the pictures. Obviously they are popular, but they are comic book fantasies.

woodsoup

March 28, 2010, 09:45 AM

You fellas do know that Cussler and Gresham and most of the other authors you're "itching about are FICTION writers, don't you?

ljnowell

March 28, 2010, 10:32 AM

I love John Grishams novels but he has done it too. In "The Last Juror" one of his characters has a 9mm Glock pistol, in like 1971 Mississippi.

Ky Larry

March 28, 2010, 12:28 PM

In one of the later "Spencer" novels, a BG has a semi auto pistol pointed at Spencer and Hawk, but Spencer wasn't worried because the hammer wasn't cocked. A semi auto can't be fired without cocking the hammer.:uhoh: Guess Robert Parker never heard of a DA auto' To be fair, Robert Parkers writing ablity took a real nose dive after his stroke.

Manco

March 28, 2010, 02:15 PM

I have no idea how many novelists are pro-gun in real life (as opposed to merely liking to fantasize about them) as well as gun owners, but Dean Koontz is one such example. Everybody who reads his books always remembers his descriptions of his characters' arsenals--particularly the recurring S&W Chief's Special and HK P7--and he usually doesn't make many gross factual errors regarding guns that I can recall (although there is plenty to criticize about how they're selected or used in some books, in addition to his Uzi fixation :)).

RainDodger

March 28, 2010, 06:34 PM

More than once, I've read about someone "clicking off the safety" on their Glock. Sheesh

ljnowell

March 28, 2010, 07:15 PM

More than once, I've read about someone "clicking off the safety" on their Glock. Sheesh

http://www.cominolli.com/images/Glock_Safety_Page2.pdf

Jumping Frog

March 29, 2010, 11:14 AM

I have not read the book, but reports say his villain is a sniper called "Carl Hitchcock", which really defames the real VN sniper Carlos Hathcock. That (if true) seems to me to show disrespect for a hero, as well as a lack of imagination in finding names for his characters.
The opposite is true. In the book I, Sniper, the character named "Carl Hitchcock" was framed for several sniper-style murders and subsequently murdered himself staged to look like a suicide. The protagonist spends the rest of the novel clearing Carl Hitchcock's name and bringing justice to the murderers.

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